


camp half-blood haunted

by Dita_Mai_24



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, RIORDAN Rick - Works, The Demigod Diaries - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, Halloween, Oneshot, Some angst, its only mildly spooky :), or is it...?, theres a pretty graphic blood bending scene so dont read if you dont want to read that, these tags make the fic sound so scary but its actually not that bad at all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:35:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27167356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dita_Mai_24/pseuds/Dita_Mai_24
Summary: Annabeth and Nico see ghosts.Leo gets trapped.Thalia, Grover and Tyson have no idea how they got here.And Percy has a battle… with another demigod.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	camp half-blood haunted

**Author's Note:**

> This is a spooky pjo fic because its october and I wanted to try writing something halloween-ish :))
> 
> Feel free to give me any sort of feedback in the comments <333

Percy wakes up from a surprisingly dreamless night of sleep as Annabeth slaps his arm repeatedly. „Percy, wake up, please. Percy!“

There’s a sort of urgency in her voice that has him wide awake in a heartbeat. He sits upright and takes in the sight of his cabin and Annabeth crouched next to his bed. Her hair is a mess, her hand is clasped around Percys arm still and he can see a thin layer of sweat on her forehead. Her grey eyes are wide with shock. Percy takes her hands. They’re cold as ice. “What? What is it?”

“I- I saw Luke, I swear on every god on Olympus, I just saw Luke standing outside the fucking window-“

“What?”

“Percy, I- He was there!” Annabeth pulls her hands away and turns around pointing at the window at the back of the cabin. Percy can only see the light of the early morning and the sea in the distance. A worried feeling spreads in his stomach.

“Annabeth, what do you mean, you saw Luke? We both know that’s impossible.” He tries to grab her arm but she’s out of reach and tiptoes towards the window. On the way she picks up her dagger that was lying on the one table the cabin has. She’s trembling and holding the weapon with an uncharacteristic lack of confidence.

Percy gets up and stares at his girlfriend. “Annabeth, you’re scaring me.”

“Shut up! He might still be there.” she snaps. Percys mouth falls open. He has never seen her like this.

Percy is about to walk over to her to calm her down when he freezes. “Annabeth.”

She’s peeking out of the window now, her knuckles around the dagger white, drained off of all blood.

“Annabeth, do you hear that?”

Without looking at him she mutters “Huh? N-no.”

“Exactly.”

Now she does look back at him. Realization dawns on her face.

“There’s nothing.” Percy says in a whisper. He strains his ears and closes his eyes but there is no sound coming from outside. No loud conversations from the Hermes cabin, no giggling from the Aphrodite cabin, no singsong from the Apollo cabin, no shouts and barking laughs from the Ares cabin, no neighs from the stables- nothing. Just eerie silence.

“What the Hades is going on?” Percy asks, a feeling of dread settling over him.

Annabeth gulps and takes another look out of the window before slowly walking towards the door. Percy grabs Riptide from the nightstand and follows her.

The camp looks hauntingly empty. Hestias hearth is died out. There’s no light in any of the cabins and Percy doesn’t see anyone on the volleyball court or at the Big House in the distance either. The place feels oddly unfamiliar.

Percy nearly accidently uncaps Riptide which would have resulted in stabbing Annabeth in the leg when there’s a sound from probably the only place where there _shouldn’t_ have been one.

The Artemis cabin. There’s a chill down Percys spine and not just because he’s shirtless. Annabeth looks at him, scared.

After throwing on some clothes other than their sleep wear Percy and Annabeth approach cabin eight. They’re glued to each other’s side and keep throwing looks over their shoulders.

They flinch when there’s another stomping sound from inside the cabin. “There are no Hunters here right now, are there?” Percy asks and he realizes he’s whispering. Annabeth shakes her head. Her lips are pressed together tightly, but less in that cute concentrated way and more in a sort of scared desperation. Annabeth grew up in Camp Half-Blood. The place is her _home_. This must be even more haunting for her than it is for him.

They agree that Percy would approach the door first and open it and Annabeth would wear her Yankees invisibility cap, hidden behind him. They both have their weapons ready. Percy half expects the door to make a creepy creaking sound but it’s completely silent as he opens it. Ugh, this makes it even creepier, he thinks.

He only has a second to take in the empty cabin with artwork of Artemis’ hunting on the walls when there’s a change in the air. Electricity seems to crackle around him, he catches sight of familiar striking blue eyes and a glinting silver piercing when a shock wave hits his body. The air is ripped from his lungs and his vision goes dark. Percy collapses to the floor but the shock is gone as quickly as it came.

“Thalia?!” Annabeth exclaims.

“Oh, gods. Annabeth? Holy shit, Percy, I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s going on-“

“Thalia, please. Do you know where everyone is-“

“I just told you-“

The girls are talking over each other, feeding into the others panic. Percy slowly gets up wincing and gritting his teeth. “Damn Hades, Thalia. Do you electrocute everyone on sight?”

But when he sees her face he doesn’t feel like joking. Thalia looks shaken up, her face pale, her hand clenched around her spear.

Annabeth, now visible, puts a hand on Thalias arm. “Why are you here, Thalia?”

The daughter of Zeus shakes her head. Her voice is feeble when she answers. “I have no idea.”

Percy stares at her. “You don’t know why you’re here?”

She gulps and looks back into the cabin. “I have no idea how I even got here.”

Leo is lost in thoughts as his fingers fly over screws and nuts, picking up and setting down wrenches, screwdrivers and measuring tape. He couldn’t sleep and snuck out of cabin nine the night before to do some tinkering in Bunker 9.

_I would have liked helping you with that ship._

Leo jumps out of his chair and turns around holding his burning hands in front of him. The sound of his chair clattering to the floor echoes around the empty room. The flames flickering around his fingers make grotesque shadows jump across all the piled up boxes and machines. Leo knows it’s morning already so why is it so dark in here? Why hasn’t he noticed this?

_I bet you’re really proud of it._

Leo swears quietly and takes a step back. He feels sick with how freaked out he is but he swallows his fear down and makes his fire burn a little brighter. “Okay, who’s trying to play a prank on me?” He laughs nervously. “Really funny guys, you got me. Not gonna deny it.”

_That thing with the fire, that’s really impressive._

Holy Hephaestus, what is going on? Leo doesn’t recognize the voice at all. Is he finally going crazy? Or is this the moment where the gods punish him for all his past shenanigans, his annoying jokes or just because they don’t particularly like him? After all that happened to him and his friends so far, Leo wouldn’t even be surprised if they’re that cruel.

_Back when I was alive I wasn’t able to do that._

Okay, this is probably the moment where he should nope the fuck out of here, but being generally crazy Leo does no such thing. He holds his hand out further in front of him and narrows his eyes trying to see something.

There! Leo thinks he can make out a faint figure next to the closed door at the other side of the room. Goosebumps break out all over his skin but he takes a few slow steps forward.

When he’s close enough for his fire to cast light onto the strangers face Leo freezes. It’s a dark-skinned boy his age. Broader built and taller than him. Leo definitely doesn’t recognize him but he has a weird feeling like he _should_ know the guy. Leo clears his throat. “Who… who are you?” he asks shakily.

The stranger smiles sadly. Leos eyes widen and new fear spikes up inside his stomach when he notices the blood. There’s blood everywhere on the boys arms and his clothes and there’s a puddle of water to his feet. What the Hades? Where did the water-

_I’m your brother._

The fire around Leos hands dies out and darkness falls around him. He blinks and suddenly the boy is gone.

Leo concentrates on building up heat along his hands but it’s like clicking a remote with no batteries. Nothing. Panic rises up inside him. He has to get out of here, now!

Leo stumbles to the door and tries to open it. It’s locked. He yanks and pulls but it doesn’t budge.

Panting he rushes to the one window the bunker had. The forest is eerily dark outside. Leo pulls on the handle but it doesn’t open either.

Suddenly, there’s a movement between the trees. Someone is walking around outside the bunker! When Leo recognizes the pale skin, dark curls shaped like baby bat wings and the old aviators jacket he can’t believe his eyes.

“Nico!” Leo bangs on the window. “Nico! Down here!”

But the son of Hades doesn’t seem to hear him. He has a panicked look on his face and looks around, his black sword held out in front of him. Suddenly his head whips around and he stares at something in the distance. Slowly he walks towards it. And away from the bunker.

“No!” Leo throws himself against the window and bangs on the glass again and again. “Nico, don’t leave. Nico!”

Percy, Annabeth and Thalia decide to check the Big House first. “The whole camp can’t be kidnapped.” Thalia said.

On the way they pass the Combat Arena to their right and that’s when things go wrong again.

Thalia is used to silence. Moving as soundlessly as possible is essential on her hunts. But Camp Half-Blood is supposed to be lively and loud. There is no clanging of swords and no sounds of volleyballs bouncing on ground.

For a split second Thalia considers sending a prayer to her father, she looks up at the sky and stops in her tracks. “What in Heras wretched name…?”

Annabeth and Percy notice that she stopped walking and turn around.

“Why are there stars in the sky? It’s daylight.” Thalia narrows her eyes. It’s a constellation. And it seems oddly familiar…

“Thalia.” Percy sounds wary. “There are no stars.”

But Thalia doesn’t hear him. “It’s Zoë.”

“What?”

“Thalia, what-”

Thalia hears a whizzing sound. A sound she knows all too well after all the time spent with the Hunters. Someone is shooting arrows. She turns towards the Combat Arena and the Archery Range behind it and runs.

“What is she doing?!” Percy exclaims and throws his hands up. Annabeth shakes her head and looks at the sky. It looks a bit grayer than usual maybe but that is the only odd thing. There are definitely no stars to be seen. “I don’t think we should separate. Let’s follow her.”

But when she looks back at Percy he started walking in the opposite direction. Towards the lake. “Percy?”

Percy picks up a pace and starts jogging like in a trance. “I just saw Ethan!” he calls over his shoulder. Goosebumps spread across Annabeths neck and shoulders. What is happening to them?

She throws one last glance back into the direction where Thalia disappeared before running after Percy. She catches up to him. “And you didn’t believe me when I said I saw Luke.”

Percy stares straight ahead. “I saw Ethan, I- I just saw Ethan.” he mumbles lost in thoughts.

Annabeth shakes her head. She knows that they are both making zero sense but she can’t stop herself from following Percy. They run past the ghostly empty cabins and the dead hearth before arriving at the lake.

Annabeth can’t help looking around trying to spot sandy blonde hair and a long scar on a handsome face. She did see Luke fucking Castellan this morning. He was outside the window…right?

Looking at Percy, Annabeth starts to doubt herself. He looks crazy. His eyes are wide and he slowly approaches the shore muttering under his breath. He keeps walking and walking until his shoes are soaked with water. And then he doesn’t stop either. The water reaches his shorts and it gets weirder.

“Percy?”

He shushes her. “He’s down there I think.”

Annabeth stares at him. “Down inside the lake? Underwater?”

Percy doesn’t answer.

“Wait, Percy, wait!” Annabeth quickly walks over to him; the water is icy cold against her bare calves. She grabs his arm and forces him to stop. “Your shorts, Percy, they’re wet!”

Only then he stops and looks down. He reaches into the water and swirls his hand in a slow circle. “Holy Hades.”

Annabeth is shivering now. Why is it so cold here? Normally the lake has a more pleasant temperature.

“I don’t feel a thing.” Percy says. He reaches for Annabeths dagger that’s attached to her hip. The next second there’s a thin red line across his thumb, blood trickling out of it. He puts his hand into the water again and they watch closely. The blood just keeps flowing and Percys cut doesn’t close like it normally would.

Annabeth takes the dagger back from him and grabs his hand. “We have to find Thalia and everyone else. There’s something very wrong with this place.”

Nicos mind is racing. His heart is hammering in his chest. This isn’t right, this isn’t right, this _isn’t right_. It’s on loop in his mind over and over as he follows the hazy white light deeper into the forest.

There it is again. Laughter. Biancas laughter. He thinks he sees a rush of shiny dark hair peeking out behind a tree. He blinks and it’s gone.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he knows this is absolutely impossible. There is no way that Biancas spirit is here and he wouldn’t have noticed. There’s something else just so very very wrong with this situation but he can’t put his finger on it. It’s like any rational thought he wants to build falls apart in his mind.

_Il mio fratellino._

Nico freezes. Her voice is behind him. His chest feels tight but he barely dares to take a breath.

_Nico, love, turn around._

“S-sorella?” Nico asks in a whisper, his lips trembling. He turns around and there she is. 12 years old - younger than him now - with dark hair, freckles across her nose and shimmering dark eyes.

As always when Nico remembers his sister he can’t help the rush of memories forcing their way into his mind. The moment Percy placed the Hades figurine into Nicos tiny hands. The one that Bianca should have given him.

And even before that when the others were on their quest and Nico had waited in the camp. He remembers it as if it happened yesterday.

The first time that piercing chill ran through his veins. That deep terrible grounding feeling settling in his stomach. The presence of his father ever so clear around him.

Only when he walked into the parlour that day, not seeing his sister among the others, when Percy stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. _Hey, Nico…Let’s take a walk, okay? We need to talk._

Only then he realized; realized that he had felt Biancas life fall away and her path to the underworld opening.

These memories are what make him realize what a mess this is. There is no chill in his blood and none of that underworldly presence around him now. Not like it would be if an actual ghost was present.

This form of Bianca must be something else. Is someone imposing her image into his head? But who would have any sort of power to do that? And who would know what Bianca looked like so well?

She moves towards him but Nico retreats. He grabs his sword tighter. “You’re not my sister.”

Something angry flashes in her eyes and that only confirms Nicos suspicion. Looking at her makes his skin crawl. “Stay away!” Nico hates how high and unsure his voice sounds. “Who are you really?”

Her face changes and suddenly her eyes are a toxic shade of green. “Camp Half-Blood has done nothing for me. They expected me to _corrupt_ the others if I got here and you know what?”

Bianca keeps getting closer and Nico keeps stumbling backwards until his back is against a tree. Bianca looks so foreign, so unlike herself that Nico feels sick looking at her. “Maybe I will. Percy Jackson and all his little friends will see their precious summer camp for what it truly is. A laboratory for blind soldiers; only existent to throw their short lifes away by executing the gods’ orders. All wrapped in fairytales of adventure quests, campfire sing-alongs and strawberries.”

Biancas voice changed and sounds very male now. “Watch the camp you love become a constant reminder of the horrors the gods impose on all of us.”

Nico can’t find the strength to ask who this person is again. He tries to raise his sword but he can’t possibly bring it down on Bianca. _This isn’t Bianca_ , the rational part of his mind says. But it is her hair and her body. Nicos knees are shaking, the air in his lungs seems to thin out.

Nico frowns when a new sound breaks through his clouded perception. A knocking and thumping sound like someone is hammering against a door or window. He can hear a faint voice shouting his name. An image of a cheeky grin and wild curls flash through Nicos mind. It’s Leo!

Nico squeezes his eyes shut and braces himself. He could do this. He would just swing his sword sideways through that fake-Bianca-fog. But when he thrusts his arm forward and opens his eyes he’s met with nothing but the cool forest air. He stumbles and just so catches himself. Panicked Nico turns and looks around quickly. But the ghost-but-not-actually-ghost is nowhere to be seen. Gone. Just like that.

The hair on Nicos neck stand on end and he feels incredibly watched.

“Nico!” Leo sounds desperate, almost pleading. Nico shakes himself, turns and runs in the direction of Bunker 9.

Thalia walks onto the Archery Range slowly. She can see her in the distance. Zoë Nightshade, lean and tall, long dark hair, copper-colored skin, bow and arrow in her hand. She’s far away. At the other end of the range. Thalia quickens her pace. She jogs. Zoë doesn’t come closer.

Thalia frowns. She’s running now. Fast. It feels like the colors of the camp around her become a blur and she’s running and running and running. Her feet hit and lift off the ground in a steady rhythm. She breathes deep and fast, her eyes are locked on the shape of Zoë in the distance.

The distance? Why doesn’t the huntress come any closer?

Thalia stumbles. She loses balance and hits the ground, hard. The air is knocked out of her lungs. The spear she was holding falls from her fingers and scatters across the ground. She rolls onto her back gulping for air. Thalia cranes her neck to see if she can still spot Zoë.

There, still far away in the distance, the girl is standing. She’s looking at her. Suddenly her body seems to flicker. Thalias eyes widen when she sees a boy standing there instead. Tall and lanky, brown hair and a hazy green glow around him.

The ground starts to rumble, reverberating through Thalias body and making her teeth clatter. What the Hades was going on?

The colors around her become even more blurry. She can hear people shouting her name. Percy and Annabeth? She wants to yell back but there’s no sound coming from her mouth.

And then she’s sinking. The ground turned soft and grainy and pulls Thalia down into the earth. The daughter of Zeus panics and tries to get up. Her vision goes dark. And then she’s gone.

When Grover wakes up there’s a soft breeze ruffling through his brown curls. He can feel the grass underneath him, can hear the birds. They’re agitated this morning.

He can smell the woods and the strawberries.

Wait. Strawberries?

Someone grunts next to him and suddenly there’s a round face with a single eye looming over him. “Grover?”

Grover jumps to his hooves and Tyson scurries away from him. “Tyson?!”

“Sorry, sorry. I’m just confused.” His eye focuses on something behind Grover. “Why are we in Camp Half-Blood?”

“What?” Grover turns around. Tyson was right. They are standing on Half-Blood Hill. The camp grounds stretch out beneath them. Grover can see the Amphitheater, the Arts and Crafts Center, the Lake, the Climbing Wall but…

“Where is everyone?” Tyson asks.

Grover shakes his head. There’s not a single demigod. Or nymph or pegasus. His throat feels tight. The camp looks haunted, abandoned. Uneasiness settles in his stomach and he shudders.

That is, until he spots two very familiar figures standing outside the Combat Arena. Tyson points at them. “Look!”

Grover nods and his heart feels lighter suddenly. “Percy and Annabeth.”

Percy pulls Annabeth closer. Her forehead falls onto his shoulder and he pushes his nose into her hair.

“When will it stop?” she whispers in a hoarse voice.

Percy squeezes his eyes shut because tears are fighting their way to the surface.

“Where’s Thalia?”

Percy shakes his head. He wishes he had an answer. But he has no fucking clue, no idea what is happening to them. How can the whole camp have disappeared? Why do Annabeth and he see ghosts of Luke and Ethan? Where did Thalia go-

“Percy!” The sound of hooves galloping across the ground.

“Brother! Annabeth!”

Annabeth lifts her head and they stare at each other. Percy turns around and sees a satyr and an excited Cyclops running down Half-Blood Hill towards them. “No way.”

Annabeth laughs. Percy can’t help but grin too. He hasn’t seen them in ages.

He is right behind Annabeth when she reunites with Grover at the cabins next to Hestias hearth, and they throw their arms around each other. Tyson joins the hug and Percy is about to do the same, when his brother asks a question that makes him stiffen and freeze.

“Wait, where’s Percy now?” He looks around, looks right through Percy.

He laughs nervously. “Dude, I’m right here.”

But Tyson doesn’t react. Annabeth and Grover let go of each other and look around confused. Annabeths eyes widen in terror. “No. No.” She steps in Percys direction but doesn’t seem to actually see him. “No, no, no, no.”

Grover puts a hand on her shoulder. “Annabeth, what is going on here?”

“He… he was there just a second ago.” Tyson says sadly still looking through Percy.

“Hey, guys I- I am right here, what do you mean?” Percy is panicking now. He tries to move and touch one of them but it’s like his feet are stuck to the ground. This can’t be happening. “Please, Annabeth. Grover. I-”

Percy stops when someone else’s voice comes to his ears. “What does it feel like?”

There’s a breeze around him, not quite like wind… like some kind of otherworldly force wrapping itself around him. Like… magic?

“What does it feel like seeing the camp you adore so much become so… corrupted?”

It’s a smooth male voice. Probably from someone Percys age. He doesn’t recognize it.

When the stranger speaks next it’s like he’s whispering directly into Percys ear. He still can’t see anyone though. It sends a shiver across Percys whole body. “I’m going to make you like this place a little less, Jackson.”

Percy wants to say something but the guy keeps talking.

“Not just that.” He laughs bitterly, almost sad. Percy frowns. “I am going to make you hate it.”

Helplessly Percy watches his friends walk past him, shouting his name, their eyes scanning the deserted surroundings until they’re out of sight behind the forges.

Percys legs still won’t obey him. He cranes his neck to look around.

Suddenly someone is actually standing behind him. A hand wraps around his throat and a second later it’s joined by the cold edge of a razor sharp blade. Its deadly pressure against the delicate skin of Percys throat makes his hair stand on end.

“What do you say, Jackson?” It’s the same voice that whispered in his ear before. “It’s just you and me now.”

Percy moves his fingers ever so slowly towards his jeans pocket. If he just got Riptide…

“I know you have a grand reputation among Olympians and monsters alike. Your name does quite the rounds.”

The hand around Percys throat tightens and suddenly there’s an itchy feeling all over Percys body. His legs feel like ants are crawling underneath his skin. It makes him dizzy and the hand squeezing his windpipe shut isn’t helping. Percys knees give out and he slumps down onto them.

The boy let go of him and is standing in front of Percy now, an imperial gold sword in one hand. Percy looks up. A wave of surprise rolls through him. He expected a cruel face with a cold evil sneer or something.

The tall boy looking down at him doesn’t look evil at all though. His hair is brown and mildly messy. He has green eyes but not quite as deep and dark green as Percys. Numerous freckles adorn his narrow face. He’s wearing a grey jumper with a bunch of weird green symbols etched onto it. Suddenly Percy thinks about Annabeths cousin, Magnus. He wears a similar symbol around his neck… Right, they are runes!

Other than the runes though, he looks like any normal teenager or demigod. In fact he reminds Percy of someone…Someone at camp but he can’t think of whom exactly it is that resembles this guy.

The rune-guy reaches down and hooks a finger under Percys chin, forcing him to look further up into his light green eyes. It annoys Percy to no end but he’s smart enough not to show his anger.

“If you think your grandiose stature impresses me you are mistaken, though.”

Percys hand is on his pocket now.

“My mother might be a minor goddess. But I stopped believing that a godly parent determines ones individual power.”

Percy can hear his friends calling out to him in the distance. He clenches his jaw and tries to block out the guys voice.

“You are powerful because your father is one of the Big Three. I am powerful due to pure strength of my own character. That’s a different kind of aptitude, a different level of power.”

In a lightning fast movement Percy uncaps Riptide and hits rune-guys legs with the flat side of it. He stumbles, Percy stands up and uses his imbalance to strike the tilt of his sword against the side of his head.

Rune-dude actually topples to the ground but holds his hands up, his palms stretched towards Percy and suddenly Percy loses the ground beneath his feet. His surroundings are spinning and in the next moment there’s a long cut along his left leg. Pain explodes there and Percy curses.

The camp and cabins around him come to a halt and Percy finds his balance again. The boy with the golden sword is standing a few feet away, cabin nine and ten on either side of him.

Percys notices two big buckets of water standing next to an anvil outside the Hephaestus cabin. The other guys eyes follow his gaze but before he can react Percy takes control of the liquid and makes a fast wave crash into the other boy.

He splutters and curses trying to get back up but the water is pushing him down onto the ground roughly.

Percy points Riptide at him. “Who are you?”

Rune-guy clenches his jaw and doesn’t answer. Percy frowns and feels anger build up inside him. Ever since his days in Tartarus he has more trouble controlling his temper.

The water reflects his mood, drifts and swirls left and right, dangerously close to the boys mouth and nose.

Percy doesn’t have to look at cabin nine to control the water in the second barrel and make it flow over to them. He can see panic in the other boys eyes. But then something else. Determination.

Out of nowhere a memory of Charles Beckendorf forces its way into Percys mind. He explained to him how they used water for cooling. To harden steel for example. Percy gets lost in Beckendorfs smile and his kind eyes, his heart aches and the explosion of the _Princess Andromeda_ echoes in his ears.

He realizes too late how completely indulged he is in the memory. The water seeps into the ground, only controlled by gravity now. Rune-guy stood up and is raising his sword.

Percy shakes the memory off. How in the world does this guy control his mind like this? This is like…like magic.

Wait… Percys breathing is rapid. A puzzle is building itself together in his mind.

_My mother might be a minor goddess…_

The boy takes a step towards him.

Green eyes and brown hair. Percy thinks of Nico suddenly. Who was this girl that Nico spent some time with after the fight against Gaia? Lou Ellen Blackstone, Percy remembers. Daughter of Hecate. Goddess of magic and the Mist.

“You’re Alabaster Torrington.” Percy says and the guy stops in his tracks. He just stares at Percy open mouthed.

Percy heard about an exiled son of Hecate before. Apparently he fought on Kronos’ side during the war and was banished afterwards. It’s only a fleeting rumor passed around. Something to gossip, even joke or tell dramatic tales about at the campfire. Forgotten no later than the next morning.

“I always thought this was a fake story.”

Anger flashed in Alabasters eyes. He laughed but there was no humor behind it. “Of course you would think that.” The runes on his hoodie start to glow a vibrant shade of green. “I’m going to show you exactly how real it is!” he just about shouts, his voice laced with rage and misery.

Suddenly cabin seven and eight to Percys left and right start to gleam. They already do so in their normal state but Torrington seems to magically amplify the gold and silver glow tenfold. They’re so bright now that it blinds Percy. He can’t see a thing. But surely, his friends can see this from wherever they are and come to his help, right? On the other hand, does he want to drag them into this? No, he decides.

Percy doesn’t have to see to fight. He can sense the water slowly disappearing into the earth around them. He concentrates and it rushes back towards him, building a swirling sphere around himself. Percy needs some kind of shield. He needs the water to become solid. Solid, solid, solid…

A frustrated outcry from Torrington makes Percy brave enough to open his eyes. His breath catches. The cabins stopped glowing. He’s surrounded by a ball of thick ice. The son of Hecate is standing outside of it and glares at Percy.

Percy smirks. “Not so powerful now, are you?”

“Argh!” Torrington raises his hand but Percy has had enough of his magic tricks. He wills the ice to become liquid again and makes it swirls around the other boy instead. Torrington is completely trapped in the floating water ball. Percy takes a few steps forward and makes the sphere - including Alabaster - crash onto the porch of cabin ten to his left.

Alabaster lies flat on his back, drenched in water and coughing. But his hand is still tightly clasped around his sword.

“I gotta hand it to you.” Percy says and leans over him. “You don’t give up easily.” He lays the point of Riptide on the other boys chest. “But I know you’re impressed by me too.”

Alabaster hoists himself up on his elbows and Percy pulls Riptide back a bit, reflexively as not to actually stab the boy. Torrington has the audacity to smirk and it’s so cocky Percy is taken aback for a second. “Honestly I was already impressed when you didn’t plead for mercy earlier, when I willed the Mist to hide you from your friends.”

“What is your plan?” Percy asks. He won’t let Torrington distract him with compliments. He wants the camp to return to normal so he gets to the point. “What do you want to achieve with all this? Make us all loose our sanity? Will that make you happy?”

Torrington brings his sword up in an attempt to knock Riptide out of Percys hand but he parries it. “You don’t have an actual plan do you?”

Torrington stands up and Percy takes a step back. He has no trouble deflecting Torringtons next attack though. “You really just want to fuck up the camp.”

Another charge from Torrington, another clashing sound as Riptide and the imperial gold sword collide. It echoes strangely loud off the walls of the empty cabins surrounding them.

“You have no idea what it was like since I got exiled. You and your friends live your precious happy-ever-after-lifes in this excuse of a safe summer camp. You feed into the stupid illusions of future heroes, that it’s an honor to serve the gods. That they need us. You are all just denying the fact that they simply use and exploit us, demanding impossible tasks from children!”

Percy feels anger rise up inside him. This guy dares to tell him – _him_ , after everything he went through - he is living a ‘happy-ever-after-life’? “You don’t know anything about me.”

Torrington keeps glaring at him. “I know enough.”

Percy raises his sword, ready to knock Alabaster out for good, when there is the sound of a laugh to his right. You’d think he would have learned to questions these things by now… but nope. The laugh seems so unmistakably familiar that Percy stands rooted to the spot. He looks at the entrance of cabin ten. “Silena.”

She’s leaning on the wooden railing, as beautiful as on the day Percy last saw her. Her eyes sparkle, her lips shimmer and Percy can almost smell her rosy perfume. “Hey, Percy.”

It’s insane to hear her voice after all this time. Percy shudders and gulps.

He almost takes a step towards her when her image flickers. Percy blinks and looks at Torrington again. He turned around and is looking at the forest in the distance. Percys stomach drops.

Two demigods – are those… Nico and Leo? – are running away from the trees past the Pegasus stables, two hissing harpies at their heels. Leo throws balls of fire behind him in an attempt so set the monsters aflame.

Torrington looks back and forth between the forest and Percy, clearly torn on where his focus should be. He seems to decide on Percy though, because suddenly Silena is standing right next to him.

Percy knows she isn’t real. He _knows_ she’s a product of Alabasters magic, but seeing her, right here… Hearing her voice… he can’t bring himself to look away. “Did you and Annabeth get together after all?” she asks like she just went away for a few months. She sounds and looks so real, Percy almost questions if she actually _died_.

Out of the corner of his eye he vaguely notices one harpy making its way over to them. Torrington doesn’t seem to realize this as he’s approaching Percy again.

Silena reaches out and softly punches his arm. “Charlie and I always knew this would happen.” she says with humor dancing in her eyes.

Percy feels pressure build behind his eyes. Memories come rushing into his mind: Of Beckendorf and him complaining – more like gushing – about the girls, of Silena, Annabeth and him rescuing Beckendorf in that one capture the flag game that had gotten out of hand.

The harpy gets closer and closer. Panic builds in Percys stomach. It would swoop down on Torrington any moment now!

The sharp harpy claws gleam in the sunlight as it zooms down, right onto the son of Hecate. Percy couldn’t explain what happens next if he tried.

Alabaster Torrington is no monster. He’s a mislead demigod, thrown away like he’s worthless. Probably tormented from much loneliness. Feeling like no one understands him. And seeing Percy being offered immortality, the savior of Olympus, Camp Half-Bloods greatest hero, the personification of everything Alabaster was not, everything he despised.

He can’t die. He deserves to be saved, Percy thinks.

He tears his gaze off Silena and stretches his arms out so abruptly that his elbow joints pop. The harpy shrieks loudly, pain-stricken. It misses Alabaster by millimeters, writhes and turns and topples down onto the ground.

Everything around Percy falls away as he completely focuses on the screaming monster on the ground. He feels the blood rush through its vessels, being pumped through the body in a fast rhythm. Oxygenated blood through arteries - deoxygenated blood through veins.

Percy stands firmly, imagines the blood to flow towards him, to just flow in one direction. He feels the liquid strain against cell membranes and then – pop. They burst. All along the circulatory system of the harpy blood breaks through natural barriers. The terrible cries die down, until the monster is completely silent and Percy feels no restraint from the blood as the motionless heart has no influence in its flow anymore.

Percy lowers his hands. He’s breathing heavily and his forehead is sweaty. He looks up and meets Alabasters eyes. The son of Hecate looks at him with a mix of shock, surprise, awe… and fear.

“What in holy Hephaestus’ name is going on here, Percy?” Leo shouts as he and Nico come running in their direction. Leo managed to burn the other harpy to a pile of ash.

“And who’s this dude?” Leo asks when they reached them, nodding in Alabasters direction.

Before anyone can answer, more shrieks and crys are heard. Nico gasps and Torrington stumbles a step backwards when roughly twenty different monsters break through the trees in the distance. They growl and roar and spread in all directions of the camp.

Percy turns to Torrington. “This is your fault. I thought you created your own extra Mist to fuck with us. But you’re using the Mist in your surroundings, aren’t you?”

Torrington gulps and nods.

Nico stares at him. “You can control the Mist?”

Percy rolls his eyes when Torrington doesn’t answer. “He’s a son of Hecate. A powerful one.”

“So you sorta used up all the Mist to create a huge – more like, gigantic – illusion and now your magic and the Mist you messed with are making the monsters go all loopy and crazy?” Leo concludes.

“And why on earth would you do all that?” Nico asks angrily. “Did you summon the ghosts too?”

Leo nods. “Right, that’s a whole other story. You guys wouldn’t believe what happened in the Bunke-”

“Shut up for a second.” Percy interrupts him. “You can summon ghosts too now?” he asks Torrington. “What the fuck?”

Torrington shakes his head. “No, no, of course not I-” He looks back at the woods nervously. “They’re just illusions. I call them Mistforms. I reach into your guys memories and create them. With magic and Mist.”

Nico and Leo stare at him openmouthed and Percy shakes his head.

A shriek – human this time – catches his attention. “Nico, Leo, listen. We’ll talk about why this is all happening later. Annabeth, Grover, Tyson and Thalia are somewhere around here. We have to find and help them. You guys go ahead, I’ll follow right behind.”

They nod and run towards the Combat Arena and Archery Range, sword and fire ready.

Percy turns to Alabaster. “I know you think I’m the savior of Olympus and the gods and whatnot. And that I don’t understand your position. But I do. I do understand what you mean when you say they use and exploit us.

The first thing I did when I turned down their immortality offer, was to make them claim and acknowledge all their children in the future. I’m realizing that that is the bare minimum, though. These quests… all the people I’ve lost along the way…” He steps towards Alabaster and the boy only flinches a little, his eyes flickering to the tortured dead harpy on the ground. “Do you know how I learned I could do this? In Tartarus.”

Alabaster looks back at him. “What?” he whispers.

“My girlfriend Annabeth fought Arachne in Rome. When the monster fell down into the pit, a spider web caught on Annabeths leg and pulled her down with it. I tried to save her but was pulled over the edge as well.”

Alabaster gulps. His gaze wanders along Percys face. “How… how did you survive that?”

Percy smiles sadly and shakes his head. “I don’t know. I just had to. Nico, the son of Hades you just saw. He was there before too, alone.”

Now Percy looks down at the harpy. “This place made me cross lines that shouldn’t have been crossed. I’m the son of the sea god, not the blood god. I shouldn’t be able to do this.” He looks back at Alabaster. “Every day I curse the gods for making us fight their battles.

Hera wiped my memories once. Now every time I forget the smallest thing I nearly have a panic attack.”

Alabaster nods. “I- I understand. I didn’t know any of this. I had this picture of you in my mind…” He shakes his head. “I’m sorry.”

Percy puts a hand on his shoulder. “Will you help us get rid of the monsters? And set things right here again?”


End file.
